“It doesn’t make any sense there.”

The heavy match pace of the owls in the League of Nations has already been managed in the aftermath. The Finnish national football team will play four matches for eleven days, two of which are now behind.

– There’s no point in that match pace. As you can see, there have been a lot of injuries in the national matches. It’s just too much for the strain, Owl Attacker Joel Pohjanpalo says.

For example, France Kylian Mbappé and Raphaël Varane and Belgium Romelu Lukaku have had to leave the field in the past week due to injuries. As well as Calvin Phillips (ENG), Kiefer Moore (WAL), Gavin Bazunu (IRE) and others.

Pohjanpalo believes that Finland as well Glen Kamaralla the strain is somehow felt. Midfielder Kamara struggled in the European League final with his club team Glasgow Rangers on 18 May.

– But that’s what it is. We’re going to do our best on the field. Fortunately, we can go on holiday next week, Pohjanpalo says.

Striker Teemu Pukki agrees with Pohjanpalo and states that ideally the players would have been able to go on holiday after the first two games.

In Huuhkaji, for example, the strain on players is monitored in many ways. Head coach Markku Kanervan according to the first signs of exertion are seen by following the players ’heartbeats in both practice and matches.

In addition, a “readiness survey” will be used or (switch to another service)wellness questionnaire). In the survey, the players themselves assess their own state of being.

Even before breakfast, the player evaluates, among other things, muscle tension, feelings of how to, and the amount and quality of sleep. Based on these, a certain value is calculated from the player’s standby mode. The survey is then repeated after the exercises.

In addition to load assessment, players should be able to tell about the tactical theme of training, which varies from workout to workout.

– That the player understood what was the idea in that exercise, Kanerva says.

In addition to these, the physics staff of the Owls concretely feel in their fingers whether the players have muscle tension or some small stump of injury.

Among other Owners, the Central Defender has visited to deal with the physio Robet Ivanov. He played full minutes in Finland’s first two matches.

– The vigilance mode is almost a hundred, although the strain must be seen when the two games were played in about a short time. Every effort has been made to recover and the nursing staff is jesus. I will continue towards Romania well and with a restored feeling, Ivanov says.

In August last year, spoke extensively about the growth in the number of games played by top footballers. At the time, researchers criticized plans by football umbrella organizations and clubs to increase the number of games to be ethically unsustainable and greedy.

The owls do not blame the umbrella organizations, although it can be felt from the outspokenness of the Northern Fire that the physical strain is straining the players.

That is why spiritual recovery is also a key issue. Ivanov thinks maybe even more important than the physical side.

– We play yatzya with the guys, which sometimes aims to keep thoughts out of football. I think this way you can keep your thoughts clear. It also makes it easier when you play well and wins, but it doesn’t diminish the importance of mental recovery.

Head coach Kanerva says that the strain also means the coaching management.

– We have to be really careful because we don’t want any risk of injury. All the other teams were also wondering when to rest anyone.

The owls will face the League of Nations on Saturday night in Romania. The away match in Bucharest will start at 21.45 Finnish time. Romania have lost their first two matches: 0-2 to Montenegro and 0-1 to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

– The match between Bosnia and Herzegovina was relatively even, and I think Romania had even better goals, but they still lost the game. The differences in this block are small, head coach Kanerva says.

According to him, there are problem areas in Romania, for example in defense gaming. However, Kanerva does not underestimate his opponent. He says Romania is good in counter-attacks and that the team has above all individual skills.

– Damn skilled attackers for sure. Tough to attack, but that defense may not always be of much interest. Now let’s see our mental edge in the away field, defender Ivanov sums up.